Rain chexit: European Union grants Brexit delay to U.K. — again
The divorce has been deferred once more.
Days before the U.K.'s Oct. 31 deadline to leave the European Union, the multinational bloc agreed to Britain's request on Monday to postpone the departure another three months.
With the announcement came another incongruously delightful portmanteau: European Council President Donald Tusk said Monday that the other 27 countries in the EU tentatively signed off on a Brexit "flextension," a flexible extension — natch — that will allow the U.K. to remain in the bloc through Jan. 31, 2020, or leave earlier if it reaches an agreement before then.
"This gives time for the UK to make clear what it wants," said European Parliament President David Sassoli, somewhat hopefully.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
Short of a significant shift in momentum, however, the recent political turmoil in London has offered little indication that an easy solution is on the horizon.
Since Boris Johnson took office as prime minister in July, he has been at loggerheads with lawmakers wary of his aggressive approach to Brexit. Johnson's bid to suspend Parliament for five weeks unraveled in court, his attempts to call snap elections initially failed to gain traction, and many of his fellow Conservatives broke ranks to approve a bill blocking him from leaving the EU without a deal — despite Johnson's own claim that he'd rather be "dead in a ditch" than seek another delay.
The U.K. had been scheduled to leave the EU on March 29 of this year, until the bloc granted a request to postpone that was put forth by Johnson's predecessor, Theresa May. On Oct. 19, Johnson asked for another extension, as he was required to do by the new law.
"Relieved that finally no one died in a ditch," Guy Verhofstadt, a Belgian member of European Parliament and Brexit negotiator for the EU, said Monday in a tongue-in-cheek tweet. "Whether the UK's democratic choice is revoke or an orderly withdraw, confirmed or not in a second referendum, the uncertainty of Brexit has gone on for far too long. This extra time must deliver a way forward."
One way forward may very well run through the British ballot box.
While Johnson's attempt to call snap elections foundered last month amid resistance from opposition lawmakers in the Labour Party, Parliament did pass the "second reading" of his new deal with the EU. But it demanded more time to consider the legislation.
This time, though, Johnson appears more likely to succeed in getting new elections. That's because this time, unlike last month, his call for elections also appears to have the backing of the Scottish National Party's leader in Parliament, Ian Blackford, who tweeted a statement of support Monday.
"Let us have the election," he said, after noting that a "defeated" Johnson had "failed to take us off the cliff edge." Blackford vowed that his party would "do its job and put across our message that those in Scotland should decide our future."
The SNP and the Liberal Democrats — two smaller parties that had, along with Labour, previously stonewalled the prospect of new elections — have opened the door to a new vote by making an about-face and backing them. Though their proposal is not identical to Johnson's, the prime minister is reportedly expected to support theirs if his is voted down.
Under Johnson's proposal, the new elections would take place on Dec. 12 and would bring the dissolution of Parliament by Nov. 6; under the one set forth by the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, the vote would take place on Dec. 9.
The two parties, along with Johnson's Conservatives, hope that new elections can break the deadlock in Parliament that has so far derailed every attempt to reach a Brexit deal. Labour leaders, meanwhile, have professed the same hope — but have said they will not back new elections until they are sure that "No-Deal [Brexit] is off the table."
Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.